Bluestem Action Alert – October 2005

Defeat H.R. 3893 in Senate

A Clean Air Act Rollback and Energy Company give-away bill

Under the guise of hurricane relief, The House of Representatives has passed an

industry-wish list of environmental rollbacks and taxpayer subsidies for oil companies.

This comes only two months after Congress passed an energy bill that was laden with

all the oil company subsidies and environmental rollbacks that they thought they could

get away with at the time. Post-Katrina, they see an opportunity for more. They are

calling it a new energy bill, even though there are no provisions to solve energy

problems or help Consumers cope with rising energy costs.

To see how your Representative in the House voted on HR 3893 see House Vote. 
 
 
This bill must be defeated in the Senate. Please take a moment to call both
 Senators Durbin and Obama and ask them to reject H.R. 3893. 
 Both Durbin and Obama voted in 
favor of the last energy bill. THEY MUST CHANGE THEIR VOTES IF THIS BILL IS TO 
BE DEFEATED IN THE SENATE!
 
Senator Durbin’s Washington number is 202-224-2152. Or you can call locally at 312-
353-4952. To email Sen. Durbin, go to http://durbin.senate.gov/contact.cfm 
 
Senator Obama’s number in Washington is 202-224-2854. His local number is 312-886-
3506. To email Sen. Obama go to http://obama.senate.gov/contact/ 
 
Background
 
 H.R. 3893, the "No Relief" Bill, would imperil public health and safety while doing
  nothing to reduce gas prices or increase energy security.  This bill uses the hurricanes
 as a pretext to advance a longstanding industry agenda to roll back key Clean Air Act
 protections.  For communities across the country, the consequences would be
 devastating: more asthma attacks, more heart attacks, and serious health problems 
from millions of additional tons of air pollution.  The bill also contains new handouts to 
the oil industry – just when oil companies are reporting record profits - and it limits
 penalties for price gouging.
 
 
 Among the bill's most harmful clean air rollbacks are those related to the New Source
Review program, smog clean-up deadlines, and clean fuels.  The bill would essentially
 repeal the New Source Review program, which is the key tool for cleaning up old, dirty
power plants and other industrial facilities, by allowing these facilities to expand or
upgrade in ways that increase pollution without ever installing modern pollution controls.
  The bill would also delay deadlines to meet national health standards for smog in some
 of our most polluted cities until as late as 2019, exposing residents to unsafe levels of
 smog for many years to come.  And the bill would derail the cleanup of the
nation's diesel trucks, buses, trains and heavy equipment that is slated to begin next
summer.
 
 While oil companies are making record profits, the bill contains a potentially unlimited
 taxpayer subsidy for oil companies if a refinery is delayed because of litigation, even if 
the litigation results from the oil company violating the law.  The bill also limits the 
penalty a company would have to pay for price gouging to $11,000 per day – regardless
of the scope of the gouging.
 
 The Congress should secure our energy future by raising fuel economy standards for 
automobiles and creating meaningful incentives for alternative energy. With your help
 we will defeat this industry give-away.
Thank you for your calls and emails to Senators Durbin and Obama.

Linda Sullivan